Psalm Meditation 890
Proper 9
July 9, 2017

Psalm 120
1 In my distress I cry to the LORD, that he may answer me:
2 “Deliver me, O LORD, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.”
3 What shall be given to you? And what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue?
4 A warrior’s sharp arrows, with glowing coals of the broom tree!
5 Woe is me, that I am an alien in Meshech, that I must live among the tents of Kedar.
6 Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace.
7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.
(NRSV)

Peace is hard work. Peace is especially hard in the face of violence. To accept and absorb the violence of those around us and then to return peace in its place is one of the hardest works any of us will do. We have been taught and trained that to receive violence and not respond in kind is a sign of weakness and cowardice. We are expected to lash out as our first reaction to any slight received or implied. It takes much more maturity to react to violence with peace.

I have heard that when Harry Houdini asked an audience member to punch him in the stomach he did not meet the blow with solidly tightened muscles. Instead he took a moment to relax those muscles so the blow met no resistance. Whether the story is true or not, it would be much harder to relax in anticipation of violence than to meet it with solid resistance.

The psalmist is for peace and is surrounded by those who preach and practice violence. It is a difficult situation any time we hold the minority opinion. Being the voice for peace in a group that is on the alert for war has got to be very difficult. In response the psalmist cries out to God for help in being the voice for peace in the face of war and violence.

July 3, 2017
LCM